Turkey, Kenya Strengthen Their Trade Relations

By Eric Akasa

The Turks are here again to hold bilateral meetings in Kenya. The Turkish Electro Technology Exporters’ Association (TET), a professional establishment which deals with the export activities of its members, will kick off the bilateral meetings at the Laico Regency Hotel on 24^th July 2012 and seeks to strengthen the bilateral economic relations between the two countries and the East African Community at large.

The workshop targets business opportunities among the cable, transformers, reactors, ICT solutions, enclosures, isolators, household appliances and related industries’ manufactures and distributors. The bilateral meetings will be inaugurated by KEPSA officials, Commercial Counsellor of Turkey Mr. Koray DEMIRCAN and TET CEO Mr. Fatih Kemal EBICLIOGLU.

 “As the world’s 16^th biggest economy, the Turkish economy expanded by 8.5 % in 2011. Being the hub of East Africa, Kenya is an important business partner of Turkey in Africa. The bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Kenya was 100 million US Dollars in 2010; this amount has increased to 214 million US Dollars in 2011. We believe that these meetings at Laico Regency will add to the increasing bilateral trade volume between our countries.” Says Mr. Koray DermicanTurkish Commercial Counselor.

 The bilateral meetings come at a time when Turkish investments in Kenya are propelled by the booming economy. According to the Turkish embassy to Kenya, there were only 20 Turkish companies as investors in Kenya in 2010, as of last month, the number stood at 35.

According to KEPSA officials, the meetings have come at an ideal time when Kenya is seeking an avenue to strengthen their business ties with Turkey.  “We want to ensure we find the right counterparts for our companies. In that regard we are happy to facilitate profitable partnerships between the established Turkish and Kenyan companies.” Observes KEPSA official.

Turkish Electro Technology Exporters’ Association (TET) is a professional establishment which deals with the export activities of its members. It was founded in 1991 with the decision of the Council of Ministers of Republic of Turkey and has over 7500 member companies. The Main Function of TET is to improve the export volume of the electrical-electronics, machinery and ICT industries on behalf of their members. With a global total export of over 10 billion USD, TET is one of the major players of the "The Information Age”.